Pa. town rues sacrifice of its war dead

Jun. 15, 2014
|

Myrle Baum, 71, grieves the loss of his son, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Baum who was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. "When Ron left, I knew this was going to happen; I bawled like a baby," Baum said. / Cheryl Diaz Meyer for USA TODAY

by Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

by Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. - A vein of sadness flecked with anger runs through this south central Pennsylvania village, much like the black fingers of coal that lie deep within the surrounding Allegheny foothills.

Faraway news of Sunni insurgents overrunning large swaths of Iraq where four native sons gave their lives during U.S. combat that ended in 2011 sours the breakfast discussion at the Black Dog Cafe in the town's historic district.

"Your sacrifice is for what?" asks Rick Flegal, a title company manager waiting, over a platter of eggs and sausage, for regulars to file in.

"Right now, there are families that are suffering again because of what they're seeing every night on the news, the terrorists taking hold of that country," says Sheriff Mitch Cooper, sitting at a table in the Allegheny Creamery and Crepes diner. "The veterans that gave the ultimate sacrifice - right now, it seems like it was worthless."

At the Napa auto parts store over on Spring Street, it's as if a dark veil fell across the eyes of owner Jim Hilling on the subject of his nephew, who was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in western Iraq in 2004.

Behind him on a bulletin board is a photo of his sister's son, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Baum - "a great kid" - in Marine blues. "Why did we go over there and sacrifice all these lives?" Hilling asks.

Young men have left here for war since before the borough was formed in 1836 to fight for ideals such as freedom and safeguarding those at home. This time, something's come undone.

Militants inspired by al-Qaeda flowing out of war-torn Syria have seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and have advanced on Baghdad. They operate with impunity in places that U.S. forces once cleared and secured. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and two other U.S. Navy warships have moved into the Persian Gulf to provide President Obama options to assist the Iraqi government.

Nearly 4,500 American troops died in Iraq in the eight years after the United States invaded in 2003. Hollidaysburg, pop. 5,800, lost more than most towns its size to the fight.

Children decorate their bikes with red, white and blue streamers to ride in the Memorial Day parade. The American Legion supports the ambulance service. A bridge crossing a branch of the Juniata River down by the railroad tracks is named in honor of Daniel Lightner, a Pennsylvania National Guard soldier and state trooper killed by a roadside bomb explosion in Ramadi in 2005.

At the time, then-Gov. Ed Rendell said Lightner represented the "true ideals of the citizen soldier."

Around the corner from the bridge is where Judy Ann Lightner lives. She has transformed the front of her brick and wood-frame house into a shrine to her only son, a 6-foot portrait of him facing the street.

"Nothing like (Iraq) ever seemed real to me before Danny went there," she says.

'WE'VE LOST ENOUGH PEOPLE'

For many in Hollidaysburg - where the stately Gothic courthouse clock tower rises five stories over Allegheny Street - Iraq and Afghanistan meld into a seamless land of violence that is unknowable, where no amount of American sacrifice can change anything.

The topic triggers instant debate at the Black Dog Cafe on a recent morning.

"It goes back to 9/11. We had to respond to 9/11," says Ben Levine, an attorney meeting friends for breakfast.

"But the guy had nothing to do with that ... (Iraqi President Saddam) Hussein I'm talking about," says Scott Stultz, an insurance salesman sitting across the table. "I mean, they went into Iraq because they had all these chemical weapons, blah, blah-blah, blah-blah."

"Right," Levine echoes with a note of resignation.

"Guess what they found? Nothing," Stultz says.

Stultz's cousin, Hollidaysburg Mayor John Stultz Jr., walks in, sits down and orders a platter of French toast.

"My wife and I this morning saw something on the news. (President) Obama says we're going to have to do something because Iraq's being overrun," he says. "My wife looked at me, she says, 'What's going on? We may be sending our children back? Our kids back over there? For what?' "

There's a clear sentiment that although matters may be unraveling in Iraq, no more American lives should be lost.

On Beaver Street, Paul Luther steps out of his office at the Slinky toy manufacturing plant - which produces 30,000 of the stair-stepping toys in a 20-hour workday - and repeats the common village refrain.

"We've lost enough people," the plant manager says. "We're done."

REMEMBERING THE DEAD

Nearly seven years have passed since the last Hollidaysburg servicemember serving in Iraq died.

Borough Councilman Joe Dodson worries that the town's bitterness over what's happening in Iraq and its longing to close a terrible chapter will undercut a legacy of remembrance that has been a village tradition.

The retiree, who was turned out of the mayor's office last year by two votes, pulled his car into a parking lot on a hilltop once covered in apple and peach orchards.

His proudest accomplishment as mayor is there - a third of an acre landscaped into Patriot Park, with newly planted oak and maple trees and a gazebo that catches an afternoon breeze. Dodson got the land donated to the city and raised $40,000 to build the park. Plaques memorializing generations of veterans are scattered throughout.

Saturday was Flag Day, and Dodson didn't see as many displayed as he would like.

"I'm not going to chastise anybody because I don't know what their thoughts are," he says. "I can't look into their hearts and minds. But I would hope they still remember. I think maybe they just want (fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan) to go away 'cause it's been so long. The longest war we've ever been in.